World English Bible · The patriarchs
Genesis 17
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When was ninety-nine years old, appeared to and said to him, "I am . Walk before me and be blameless. I will make my between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly." fell on . talked with him, saying, "As for me, behold, my is with you. You will be of a multitude of nations. Your name will no more be called , but your name will be ; for I have made you of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you. I will establish my between me and you and after you throughout their generations for an , to be a to you and to after you. I will give to you, and to after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of , for an possession. I will be their ." said to , "As for you, you shall keep my , you and after you throughout their generations. This is my , which you shall keep, between me and you and after you. Every male among you shall be . You shall be in of your foreskin. It will be a token of between me and you. He who is eight days old shall be among you, every male throughout your generations, he who is born in the house, or bought with money from any who is not of . He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your money, must be . My shall be in your for an . The male who is not in of his foreskin, that from his people. He has broken my ." said to , "As for your wife, you shall not call her name , but her name shall be . her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. Yes, her, and she will be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her." Then fell on , and laughed, and said in , "Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will , who is ninety years old, give birth?" said to , "Oh that might live before you!" said, "No, but , your wife, will bear you a son. You shall call his name . I will establish my with him for an for his after him. As for , I have heard you. Behold, I have him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But I will establish my with , whom will bear to you at this next year." When he finished talking with him, went up from . took his son, all who were born in his house, and all who were bought with his money: every male among the men of house, and of their foreskin in the same day, as had said to him. was ninety-nine years old when he was in of his foreskin. 25, his son, was thirteen years old when he was in of his foreskin. In the same day both and , his son, were . All the men of his house, those born in the house, and those bought with money from a , were with him.
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The world at this moment · The patriarchs, 2000 BC to 1600 BC ›
Abraham's family as herdsmen among settled Canaanite city-states, in a world where Egypt and Mesopotamia are the great powers and Canaan is the corridor between them.
- Mesopotamia
- Abraham's own century is Hammurabi's. The great empire of Ur has already fallen, and Babylon rises under a king who published a law code on a stone pillar for everyone to see. Reading Genesis alongside Hammurabi's laws is illuminating in both directions: some provisions are strikingly similar, and the places where Israel's later law diverges are the places worth stopping at.
- Egypt
- The Middle Kingdom, wealthy, bureaucratic, and organised around the Nile flood. Egyptian tomb paintings from this period show Semitic traders arriving with donkeys and striped cloaks, which is more or less the picture Genesis gives of a family going down to Egypt in a famine. Toward the end of the era the Hyksos, rulers of Semitic origin, take the delta.
- Anatolia and the Aegean
- Assyrian merchants run a long-distance trading colony at Kanesh in Anatolia, leaving thousands of clay letters about copper, tin, and debt. On Crete the Minoan palaces are at their height, with plumbing, frescoes, and a script nobody has yet read.
- Further afield
- The Indus Valley cities are in decline after centuries of grid-planned streets and drains. In China the Erlitou culture is building the first palace complexes. Stonehenge is standing and already old.
All of Genesis